The Clicker

Any Weight Watcher members out there who love the Quick Track method? Yes? Well, isn't it annoying that you still have to dig out your tracker and jot it down? The Clicker to the rescue. This little devil is priced low and allows you to set your points that you're going to eat today and click down to zero throughout the day. You can also click up if you're cashing in any Activity pts. It's up to you to be mindful of your Good Health Guidelines; however. I've been struggling with journaling and, eating with the GHG in mind is not a problem for me. So I gave this little gem a try. It's not for everyone (I recommend detailed journaling to new members and anyone struggling with breaking a plateau), but it's smaller than the calculator and priced right. I can hang it from a retractable key chain on my belt buckle or hook it on the side of my purse, so it's always with me. And as I go to eat that 2 pt. granola bar I suddenly think twice, because that's 2 clicks of my day.

New stuff is fun.

Battle of the Bars/Habit adjustments

Before joining Weight Watchers, granola bars were my go-to before dinner and chocolate bars were the thing I collected everytime I was in line at Wal-Mart or put gas in the car. But, if you want to change a habit then one of the easiest ways to do so is to change your routine. I began paying at the pump to avoid the gas station convenience stores. Wal-Mart and quick trips to the grocery store remained a challenge, but I would often pick up yogurt or healthier choices that I could eat once in the car. Having a packed cooler with healthy snacks and plastic utensils also helped - yup, I'm the crazy woman who sucks back 2-3 yogurt cups while sitting in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. As for the granola bars, I've learned to choose other options while waiting for dinner and to only eat until satisfied. No more 8 point snacking while waiting for a 6 point dinner.

BUT - I still love both the granola bars and the chocolate goodness of a chocolate bar. Well, onto the contest then.

When WW profiled the Peanut Butter mini bars, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Two of my favourite things together again - and in a portion controlled wrapping. OK, the great thing about ALL of these things is they are portion-controlled. My opinion - the pb mini bars are awesome as a chocolate bar replacement. Do they have granola goodness? No, but their Fruit and Nutty 1-pt counterpart does.

The Fruit and Nutty WW mini bar is also very good, but it's small size and texture (I am sorry to say) to not compair to the other products featured here. It's winning points - it's 1 pt vs. the 2 pts for all the other items in this post.

A lot of my members were raving about the Curves bars. So I had to try them out. I liked them - I really did. They were softer than the Fruit and Nutty and (bonus) they had chocolate chips and peanut butter. I did not try the fruity version, but really enjoyed this 2-pt snack that I could toss in my bag with a bottle of water while running around. The kids enjoyed them too...until.

A similar product to the Curves bar is the fibre 1. And now I understand the huffalaboo about this bar. They are 2 pts of awesome goodness. No peanut butter, but great mini choc chips and a subtle syrup on the bottom. These are, for a sweet granola treat my favourite. In fact, my whole family loves them. These are a keeper and will NOT be purchased in little boxes, but rather the massive boxes you find on the bottom shelf.

Finally, I had to give these a try. I tried the cranberry ones and must say, Dempster's has done an amazing job. They are little squares and are awesome to relax with a cup of coffee or tea. They are not necessarily promoted to satisfy your sweet tooth, but are more like a very soft granola heath bar. I like these in a different way than the chocolate counterparts above.

So, I like them all. The WW minis are a great chocolate bar substitute - but be careful not to eat half the box in one sitting...ahem. The WW fruit and nutty (not pictured) provides a great 1-pt alternative for granola bars, which I have not found in the other brands. Curves is nice and if you have a pb craving you want satisfied in a g-bar, this has it; however, the fibre 1 is larger, softer and sweeter for similar Nutritional Facts. The Healthy Way bars - well, if you're not into chocolate or just want something more wholesome, these are the way to go, and they have 5g of fibre per serving. They make me feel yuppyish.

But the fibre 1 wins overall for me for a number of reasons. I love the texture, taste and size (because size does matter). The price point on the Curves and Fibre 1 bars are similar, but that is reduced when you identify what you love the most, then buying the BIG box. Then we have a whole new dilema - how to keep from eating 3-4 of these before eating a 6 pt supper...

Organization

Does anyone else have trouble with this. Scheduling and clutter in various areas of your lives. Well, since I'm home for a bit, my overall goals have changed. I was going to show a couple of the girls at work how to do vendor reconciliations since the AP clerk doesn't know how to do them. Training others had to do with freeing up my time from bookkeeping tasks so I could focus more on the stuff that management needed. Well, since none of that is any longer my problem I can reassess my goals and action plans and evaluate their importance in my life.

One of the biggest areas of impact in my life is - Decluttering!!! I am discovering that the little pocket book I bought for organizing events in my personal life is now insufficient. I have a template for tasks and stuff and will likely create a diary in a 3-ring binder. This will include a large lay-out page for each day (rather than a small lay-out page for each week).

I need to do several things, but first and foremost is to make sure I don't miss any WW meetings that I had committed to. Also, I need to plan for babysitters well in advance since so very few kids babysit these days and the times I need people really are helter-skelter now. Hopefully few and far between as well.

Next, I have to train hubby that his shoes belong in the kitchen closet, not the front hallway. Honestly, I picked up 3 pairs EACH of his and the 10 year-olds footwear yesterday lying in the hall and kitchen floors.

So, yesterday I went through the living and dining rooms and found a pile of books that need to be returned to the library. I also have a bag set to go to donations and a box of 'stuff' I'm not sure what to do with yet. I'm trying to take down winter decorations and replace with spring stuff and am, so far, pleased with the results. I now have some piles of stuff on my kitchen table that need allocating to various areas of the house. I think I will do the 'catch-all' room next. In there I keep the kids coats and outer gear with a shelf for things such as buckets of hats, mits or flip flops, depending on the season, the computer and my exercise equipment. Not sure what the matress, bed, molding, old armchair and various other stuff is doing in here though.

The Walk

So, I'm signing the 10 year old and myself up for a 5K on June 6th. We could do this any old time just by heading out the door, but an organized race sounds like fun for a change. I took the dog out for a 5K walk this morning. She didn't do too bad considering the amount of candy she's stolen from the kids in the past week and a half. It was cold out this morning and we just walked - almost 6400 steps according to my pedometer. It took almost an hour.

Update on past posts. Hubby is still at work. He got moved down to another plant. March Break has left me exhausted - anyone else? We spent time at the Wildlife Park doing crafts and seeing the animals - even went on a nature hike. Also got to the pool and some time in the school gym. We took in "Hotel for Dogs" and that's about it. I only did 3 WW meetings this week, which was good considering that the kids were home and my sitter has strep throat.

I guess today is officially Spring. The table is set with a dollar store table cloth and fake yellow flowers. Corny, but fun. There's frost here, but we're going to celebrate anyway. Take care.

Computer Crash

Lost my Pc Friday night. I'm hoping it can be fixed soon. Meanwhile, the setting to blogger from the library are freaking me out.

Oh - down to 148. Cheers, Can

And More Curves - Not so good today

Today is another busy day. Got the kids off to school, returned a library book and paid my membership at the gym for a month. The gym I joined last year has a small 1-time joiners fee, but 1-time means 1-time, so I didn't need to pay for it today. I just brought in my card and paid my membership for the next month. I didn't stay for a workout, but will probably go this evening.

Next I did some banking and bought a couple of things at the grocery before coming home. While in the grocery store I made a to-do list for today and am surprised how much is on it. I am covering a WW meeting in the city today and have a few errands along the way.

After posting yesterday a few things happened that really threw my mood. I had heard that a man was hit by a train close to home on the radio yesterday morning and found out that it had been a friend. He had a son the same age as my oldest daughter and was heavily involved in the community recreational scene. It just hurts my heart that he is gone. This was one of two train accidents in Nova Scotia this weekend. Bruce Preeper will be missed and I send out warm blessings to his family.

My husband discovered that his friend had passed away shortly before being told that he would likely be laid off this Friday. We've never both been out of work at the same time before. Such drama has the makings of a sitcom. He came home in such a state I wondered about leaving him alone with the kids last night. I did and headed off to the city for my WW meeting.

It went well. Everyone just loves talking about exercise. On the way home a dear ran out in front of me. I slowed down and watched it hop off onto the other side of the road, worrying about whether the on-coming traffic could see it. That's when it's partner ran in front of my car, stopped and came head to head with my grill. I let out a yell as it flew to the ground and ran back the way it had come. I hadn't been going too fast, so it may be OK, but discovered later there is a crack in the front of the car. Normally I wouldn't be too concered, but this is a 2009 - my first ever new vehicle.

Sorry to be a downer. I'm going to get ready and head into the city now. After I get home I'm taking the kids for a walk - I think we all need some fresh air. And I will definately hit the gym tonight. Getting back into a routine will do me some good. Food for today...I had oatmeal, blueberries and soy drink, plus a couple of coffees. I picked up a spinach salad on 50% off at the grocery (along with 50% off lf brownies and 50% off bananas) so the salad will likely be my lunch and a banana for snack. I'm taking some fish out of the freezer for supper, too. I think rice, fish and some stir-fry veggies sounds good.

SO - How was your Monday?

And Then Life throws you a Curve

Hey, so life is actually looking up this week. I have a short post then it's off to the races - or at least the shower. You know they say the only day that is important is today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow will never come. So, on Tuesday (vs. tomorrow) I am going to re-join the gym. Fact is, I'm far too busy today. It's already 10:30 and I've had a busy morning. Got the kids off to school and set up the dishwasher and threw a load of laundry on. Then I got on the 'ole internet to apply for a job I've been eyeing for a couple of days now. I played with my resume and shot that puppy into virtual, give me a call sometime land. Then I chatted with the boss-lady at Weight Watchers about picking up some daytime meetings over the next little while. Turns out, lots of the ladies (and gentlemen) are taking vacay over the next few weeks, so subbing for them will keep me busy.

So you're asking 'what are you talking about? donchu work full time?'. Well, I've alluded to career changes in the past and it looks like it's happening. I took a semi-generous severence package - look, I'm in no way complaining since some people just get shown the door, but others are more generous - and am taking some time to pull things together.

The rest of today involves a shower, walking the dog, getting supper together and prepping for tonights WW meeting. If time allows I'll be doing the grocery list - if not I'll do it first thing tomorrow.

What else is cool about this? Next week is March Break and, since hubby is evenings, I can still do some daytime WW meetings, but also plan some great quality March Break time with the kids - something I've only been able to do one day in the previous 5 years. How awesome is that? I'll have to research where the 'free' times are - you know, like $2 movie day and free admission skating and free admission swimming and such. Oh, and the Wildlife park craft mornings with admission to the park - craft, a walk and wildlife sounds fun to me.

Tomorrow morning...I mean Tuesday morning...I will join the gym. Cranky, I better do something. My pants are getting snug and I r.e.f.u.s.e to buy a larger size.

IS IT MARCH ALREADY!!!

Hello all!

It IS March already. Man - I'm not showing the virtual world any love lately.

WELL...OK, I'll fess up. Between mid-January weigh-in and the last week in February weigh-in I am (gulp) up 5.2 lbs. There you have it. I've been totally OUT of it. I'm not making any promises and what I'll do - because I obviously have no accountability to myself here. Still 0.6lbs under goal though.

SO - I'm going to Phat Camp with Phit-n-phat in June. Gotta start prepping for that. I also found my sign-in card for the gym, so when I'm ready to re-join I won't need to buy another one. Hubby is still on permanent evenings - so that still sucks.

What HAVE I done? Well, I realized my 'environment' was going to pot. Well, dirty pots, spilled molasses, frozen cake in front of the frozen veggies, pie on the counter, candy at eye level in the pantry instead of up high. You get the picture right? So, I resolved to fix it. I cleaned the pantry and am trying to take back ownership for the groceries that come into the house again.

I've also re-established my weekly meetings with my friend and unofficial life-coach. We're working our way through some 30 year-old Anthony Robbins tapes. Continuous improvement is important. I mean change is inevitable - we're not going to be in this same place next year anymore than we were here last year. Changing in a positive direction though is entirely under your control.

Next on my list is moving my computer into the dining room space and cleaning up my gym space. Right now the computer and related clutter as well as winter gear have taken over my gym space.